Silent Scream
by fallingsnow6136
Summary: She was the shield of Voltron. That didn't always mean she could shield herself.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everybody. How are you doing today? I know I am very new to this fandom but I am writing a story that is very personal to me and it is something I, myself have experienced and the idea for this project was something that had been rotating at the back of my mind for different fandoms before it settled with this idea. Now, for trigger warnings, this story contains an ****ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP** **and this includes all forms of abuse and may be triggering to those who have been through this type of relationship. This is post-season 7 just after the defeat of Sendak, so no Robeast stuff or any of the things that occurred in Season 8. That said, please enjoy the story!

* * *

**1\. Beyond the Veil**

Everything had started off as so perfect at first. Pidge had been so happy that she had found someone who accepted her for who she was even in a romantic relationship. She had gained a lot of acceptance from her friends since joining Team Voltron but anyone else besides them had still been a struggle for her. Now, 20 years of age, she was in a relationship with James Griffin, leader of the MFE pilots. They had been together for 1 whole year now and it had started so well. They had gone out on dates, discussed the best ways on how they could get back into space and everything was so perfect. Something every girl would dream of. How that had changed so quickly, Pidge still didn't know.

_It must be because I can't do anything to help the Atlas or my own team. _Pidge had begun thinking to herself on more than one occasion. Shiro and Keith constantly reassured her that this was not her fault but her fights with James told her another story.

_"Can't you do anything? Was the genius thing just an act?"_

Her boyfriend's voice taunted her loud and clear, as she sat in her bedroom, wrapping her arms around herself when she heard a knock on the door and jumped a bit as her Mom opened the door.

"Katie, are you alright?" Colleen asked. "You've been locked in your room since your meeting with James."

"Yeah, I'm alright, Mom," Pidge said, smiling at her softly, having learnt to fake her smiles pretty well over this past year. Even she was beginning to believe her own words that she was alright. "We're all just a little frustrated since we still can't find a way back to space. It has been four years since Sendak has been defeated, after all."

Colleen sighed. "I know. The Atlas being unable to cross through into space is less concerning for your father than Voltron being unable to, because its made of a completely different material than any ship."

"Yeah, that is pretty puzzling," Pidge agreed quietly, although a part of her could not help but wonder if that was her fault too, regardless of what Shiro and Keith said. _Maybe, because I'm part of the team, even with Voltron, we can't…_

"Sweetheart?" Colleen said softly. "You've been a little bit withdrawn lately anyway. I know I can be harsh with you sometimes but if there's ever anything you need to talk about, you know you can come to me."

"No, I'm okay," Pidge assured her mother. "I've just been worried about things, that's all." That wasn't exactly a lie, it just wasn't the complete truth but her mother didn't need to know that even though she looked as if she didn't really believe her. Thankfully, her father's voice cut through before her mother could ask her any more questions.

"Katie, Colleen!" Sam's voice called out to them. "We've managed to figure out a way with Katie's new program on how Voltron can enter space again. Katie, can you install that new program onto the Atlas as well?"

Pidge's eyes widened at this new piece of information and she immediately jumped to her feet. "Yeah, of course. Let's go!"

* * *

Watching Pidge work on solving something filled Hunk with a feeling of confidence that everything would be okay. He liked being back on Earth with his family and everything being so peaceful but he was also worried about his friends back there in outer space. Was Shay okay? Had the Balmerans been enslaved by the Galra? He wouldn't be surprised – it had been 4 years after all and a lot could change in that time. The Coalition had probably lost faith they would ever return but they had to be able to fix things, no matter how much time had passed.

"Anything, Pidge?" he asked his female best friend.

"Yeah, I'm almost done," was the automatic reply. "I'm adding the same add-ons to the Atlas that I did to the lions so we should be able to pass through now. All of us, the Atlas and Voltron should be able to get through the barriers blocking us. It might be a bit of a rough road but we should be able to make it safely across given it did work in Dad's trial machine." The brunette stood back up. Her hair had almost reached shoulder-length in this time so she had her hair tied in a tiny ponytail to keep it from getting in the way.

"Well done, Katie," James said, reaching over and pulling his girlfriend into a hug and kissing her cheek. "I always knew you could do it." He beamed at her, sounding proud and Hunk couldn't help but laugh at that. He was glad his little sister had found someone who appreciated her for who she was. She deserved that and he was sure Matt would be really happy to see that too.

"Thanks James," Pidge said smiling as she leaned into the hug for a moment before James released her and she turned to Keith, who had been watching the whole process. "We should get ready to launch as soon as possible. We could go as Voltron or we could stay in the Atlas until Voltron is really needed."

Keith looked thoughtful, glancing at his whole team before nodding. "We should save our lions' strength for Voltron in case we do need to fight right away," Keith said finally. "It has been 4 years and since there's been no contact with anyone from space, we don't know what kind of situation we should be expecting."

"I agree," Shiro said softly. "Voltron will most likely be needed soon though and it will be needed at full strength."

"Should we call like a final meeting or something before we go say goodbye to our families and stuff then?" Hunk asked Keith, knowing if they were leaving soon, they probably wouldn't be back for awhile.

It wasn't Keith who answered but Shiro.

"Actually, no," Shiro said to him. "We're going to call a meeting just before the Launch, so everyone has enough time to spend with their families. We've been away from space for years now, so a few hours more won't hurt the mission too much."

Hunk nodded. That made sense. He didn't want to leave his family again but he knew they really had no choice and Pidge had reassured him that Earth had enough resources to protect itself now in case anything did attack. Still, he had no idea when they'd be back but one thing was for sure. He wasn't going to break his promise to Shay, to all of their friends who were believing in them – Voltron had the power to protect them from the Galra and protecting them was what they would do.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey there everyone! Since this story is so personal to me and genuinely really good for me to write, here is the next chapter. As of now, there are no romantic pairings in the story so whatever develops naturally to the story. That tends to work out the best anyway without taking focus away from the main plot. Either way, I hope you enjoy this._

* * *

**2\. A Fragile Shield**

Coming back to space was just as chaotic as Pidge had expected it to be and her heart sunk as she saw the destruction which while they somehow knew this would be the case, it was worse than she had imagined. Broken planets as well as a dark nebula that seemed to be blocking most of the light. It had only been one day and one night since they had come here.

"I guess, 4 years later, the light has all evaporated from the world?" Hunk said, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood. No one even cracked a smile. "This is a bad time, isn't it?"

"Gee, you think?" Lance replied, rolling his eyes. "Pidge, this is depressing, what's going on here?"

"We seem to be an infinite dark nebula," Pidge replied, looking at the scanners she had in front of her. "I'm not sure of the reason but it has been four years so I wouldn't be surprised at how much has changed." She was about to say more but suddenly the Atlas was hit with a blast, knocking it back slightly. Somehow, it didn't surprise her given they had come here after such a long time.

"Galra ships are attacking us from every end," Veronica said immediately. "We need to fight back."

Shiro looked at Keith. "Keith, go. But be careful."

Keith nodded in agreement, eyes traveling to his team who all seemed ready to go as well. Hunk had a fist clenched, Lance was already making his way to the Red Lion whilst Allura's eyes looked like she was out for blood for how bad the condition of the rest of the universe had become in this time.

Pidge nodded back to Keith when he looked at her, ignoring the strange wave of exhaustion that hit her, unsure of what could be going on. She had been sleeping okay after all because she knew she needed to to be able to help her team so why did she feel so tired? Either way, that didn't matter.

"Pidge?" James's voice dragged her out of her thoughts. "Good luck out there. We'll be here if you need backup." The reassurance felt kind of nice right now and she knew how good of a fighter pilot her boyfriend was so hopefully if she struggled, he would have her – no, their back.

Pidge nodded to him, running along to join her team. For a second, she had thought of discussing with him how tired she was but her team needed her right now. Her strange exhaustion would have to wait. She got into the Green Lion, hurrying out with the others, forcing herself to focus so she could move quicker.

"Guys, we're no match for them in our lions," Keith called out to the rest of the team. "On me! Form Voltron!"

"Right!" Lance, Hunk, and Allura all cried. Pidge wanted to but felt her vision swimming as flashes of being shoved against the wall and the pain from last night entered her mind. _No, no I have to focus on the fight. I'm their shield after all. _She hadn't even noticed they had already formed Voltron until Keith's voice cut through her thoughts once again, jolting her back to attention as she forced herself to focus.

"Form Shield!" Keith cried.

Pidge tightened her grip around Green's controls and the shield did appear but flickered out in a second and Voltron was sent flying back.

"Pidge! Are you okay?" Hunk asked her, voice filled with concern.

"What just happened?" Lance asked. "Pidge, why is Green acting up?"

"I'm sorry, the controls don't seem to be responding to me at all," Pidge said, wincing as the pain hit her tenfold when they were hit by another blast. James had been really angry last night and the kicks and punches had left bruises, the blast pressing down on each bruise. _Please don't let me start bleeding. I don't even have the strength to come up with another excuse. _

"Paladins!" Shiro called out as Atlas began shooting constantly trying to cover for them. "Is everything alright? Voltron seems to be moving slower than usual."

"We're alright, Shiro," Allura called back. "Probably just out of practice."

* * *

Keith didn't know why but he could somehow feel there was another reason than them just being out of practice. Maybe it was because they were all bonded as Voltron, but he could feel something off, something different about Pidge – exhaustion, but more than that some sort of strain that was dragging her down. A searing pain that pressed down on his own body as if he had many bruises being pressed down upon which he didn't even have.

"Lance, Hunk, Allura, can you cover for Pidge since she's having some trouble with the shield?" Keith said to his teammates, making a mental note to talk to the others once they were no longer in the line of fire anymore.

"Copy that," All three of them responded at once.

Keith's attention was solely focused on the battle in front of him because the Galra ships were much higher in number and these were not normal Galra attacks. Without Pidge's shielding abilities, they were forced to take a more offensive approach by destroying every ship that was trying to destroy them, taking a fair few of them out quite easily but what happened next seemed almost too easy.

It was something that he recalled happening once before when he had first become the leader of Team Voltron when Lotor had initially retreated after all the lions had gathered as well as the second time after they had reformed Voltron but that wasn't possible. Lotor had been killed in the Quintessence field. Could he still be alive? No, that wasn't possible. But who was this enemy and why had they retreated when they could have easily caused real harm to Voltron like this?

"Keith, everyone, are you alright?" Shiro asked them.

"Yeah, we're okay, Shiro," Keith replied but didn't respond more than that, shutting off their communications temporarily and not retreating to the Atlas right away. "Pidge, are you alright?"

"I'm sorry for being such a failure today, guys," Pidge said, sounding a lot more forlorn than he had ever heard his friend sound in all their fights together. "I'm not sure what happened."

"Hey, don't call yourself that," Hunk was the first to say and Keith could tell he was frowning when he said this, despite not seeing his face. "It was just a bad day, we all have bad days, right Keith?"

Keith nodded immediately. "Hunk's right. It has been a long time since we've fought but I didn't mean it like that." He bit his lower lip, knowing his words had not come out the way he had meant for them to. He wasn't good at stuff like this and hoped one of the others would take up for him – he didn't want to intrude but Pidge was his friend, a part of his team and family, if something was bothering her then he wanted to try to help out somehow if he could. What would Shiro do if he was the leader here instead? Probably reassure Pidge that it was okay and they all had bad days, but Hunk had already done that so what could Keith say that hadn't already been said?

"Pidge, what Keith wants to say is are you okay?" Lance asked concerned, which Keith was grateful to him for stating it bluntly. "Like we're kind of all one unit as Voltron and I dunno, even I could feel something and I don't notice this kind of thing as much as the others do."

"I'm alright," Pidge said softly. "I'm sorry for worrying everyone. We should head back before we're attacked again and the Atlas is waiting for us."

"Alright Pidge," Allura said softly. "But if you ever need someone to talk to, you know we're all here for you."

"Yeah," Pidge replied. "I know, guys. Thanks."

Pidge's replies were short and not very convincing but Keith had a feeling pushing her would not help much right now. It was clear it was something she didn't want to talk about.

"Let's get back to the Atlas," Keith said after a pause of silence, turning the communication back on.

"Copy that," his teammates all responded and the group retreated to the Atlas.


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay, I'm sorry for taking this long to get this chapter out. I was having a little bit of trouble with Keith and Hunk oddly enough because well, Hunk's usually a nice guy and this situation is different to what he's used to handling with the team. That said, I do hope you enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

**3\. Subtle Signs**

Pidge knew that avoiding the others would make them more suspicious that something was going on but she had no idea what to tell them so she had come to sit in her room that had been arranged for her on the Atlas. _ There had to be some easy excuse that would sound believable when she said it, but their connection as Voltron meant they shared each other's pain when combined. Why couldn't I form the shield I usually can? I could have gotten us all killed. I let everyone down, what's wrong with me? Maybe I should talk to Keith about this. I wouldn't blame him if he wants to throw me off the team. _

"Pidge?" Her boyfriend's voice cut through her and for once she really didn't want to hear another lecture when she felt bad enough already but knew that could end badly so she got up and opened the door to let James into the room.

"Hey," Pidge said quietly, not looking up at him.

"What was all that about?" James said, raising an eyebrow at her. "I've never seen Voltron as pathetic as it was back there and you guys were moving so slow. You guys out of practice or something?"

Pidge couldn't reply. She didn't want to mention that Keith had asked to form a shield and she had been unable to follow that simple command because it would lead to him getting angry but she didn't want to lie either. So she didn't say anything at all and just looked at him silently. In hindsight, she knew that would annoy him but what was she supposed to say?

James frowned. "Oi, Pidge, I'm talking to you." He clicked his fingers in front of her face and she snapped to attention almost instantly.

"I don't know what happened," Pidge finally said. "So I don't know how to answer your question. I'm really tired, James. I just want to rest for a bit so I can figure things out." She made to go sit back on her bed but James grabbed her by the wrist. Her heart sunk at this. Did he want to - right now - she knew fighting it would make him angrier but she honestly didn't have the strength.

"I want to spend time with you," James said shrugging. "You're not too tired for that right?" There was a glint in his eye as there always was when he wanted to have sex with her. There were times when she tried to say no but he would become so sad when she did so she would eventually give in to his demands. They were in a relationship - it was natural, as he constantly kept reminding her - even if it didn't feel like it to her. _I've always been different - an outcast - so his views are probably a lot more correct than mine are. _

"I need to focus on resting so I can be there for my team," Pidge replied, making to pull her wrist out of his grip albeit the grip tightened around it suddenly, the grip becoming almost painful. "James, please, let go of me." She tried to pry her wrist free but an alarmed cry left her lips as James twisted her wrist, eyes watching her silently, expression becoming darker as he looked at her.

"Pidge? Pidge, are you there?" Hunk's voice was clear as the sound of footsteps approached and James immediately loosened his grip on her wrist, allowing her to break free, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest, silently praying he hadn't heard anything.

"Not a word," James warned her before Hunk entered the room.

"Hey Pidge – oh sorry James," Hunk said apologetically. "I thought Pidge might be alone right now and I was kind of worried about her, that's all."

James smiled at Hunk. "No, it's okay, Hunk although you should know Pidge isn't alone anymore. She has a boyfriend now."

"Yeah, I know," Hunk said, sounding casual but she could sense something off about her friend as he replied which made Pidge bite her lip slightly. "I was just worried about her. She seemed kind of out of it and almost as if she were in pain in the battle, has she told you anything?"

Pidge felt herself shrink down, wishing the ground would swallow her, knowing Hunk didn't know any better. He didn't know how fatal his words would be for her and she didn't know how bad this next beating would be and if she would be able to use clumsiness or walking into the wall as an excuse this time. It wasn't his fault. He didn't know. He was just worried about her as a good friend should be. Her eyes fixated on James, trying to read his expression which seemed calm right now but she knew better. She always knew better, after one year of being with James.

James nodded. "Yeah, Pidge took a pretty nasty fall earlier." His face fell over in concern. "She's so clumsy sometimes. She should be okay after a little bit of rest."

Hunk shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess." He looked to Pidge. "You sure you don't need anything? Food, water or anything?"

Pidge could feel the worry radiating from her friend but plastered a smile on her face as she had earlier for her mother. "I'll let you know if I do." She stepped forward and took James's hand in her own. "Right now, I'm okay with just James here. I'll be okay, Hunk. Like James said, I just need a little bit of rest."

Hunk nodded. "Alright then, I'll let the others know since they were all pretty worried about you." He headed out the door, looking back once and Pidge felt their eyes lock for a moment before she quickly had to look away from the intensity of her friend's gaze. It felt as if he were seeing through her smile somehow and she couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let her friends pay the price for her flaws.

* * *

Hunk somehow could feel that something was off – that Pidge wasn't herself and he knew James had wanted him to leave the room. He didn't know why or the exact details of it but he knew for Pidge's sake, he couldn't just let this go, just as he hadn't been able to let his feelings about Rolo and Nyma go. He headed back to the main room seeing Keith and Shiro talking to a few key members of the Atlas as well as the MFE pilots, his gaze stopping on Keith. He knew their topic was important but Pidge was more important right now.

His fist clenched a bit as he realised this could not wait and Keith needed to know. _But what exactly are you going to tell him? That you think whatever Pidge is going through might have something to do with James? You don't have any proof about that. _It was true he didn't have proof but he could feel it in his gut that something was seriously wrong and that Pidge needed help but wasn't sure how to ask for it. _I don't care if I don't have proof – I know something is off and Keith's our leader as well. He has to know._

Hunk walked over to the middle of the group, tugging at Keith's sleeve. "Keith, I need to talk to you."

Keith frowned a bit and was about to say something but as Hunk's eyes locked with his, his expression became curious and slightly concerned. "Alright, just let me finish up here real quick ok?"

Hunk nodded, pulling away and stepping aside to wait. He fidgeted, looking around. There was a sinking feeling in his heart that there was something really bad happening on this ship right now but he couldn't place his finger on what. _Pidge, please stay safe. _Out of all the Paladins, he did have a soft spot for the youngest because she was like a little sister to him and he would do anything to somehow take her pain no matter how scared he was.

"Hunk," Keith's voice brought him back to reality and he realised his friend had come over. "What is it? You normally don't interrupt like this unless its something serious."

"Keith, have you noticed anything kind of well…off about Pidge lately?" Hunk asked his friend. "Like she's not herself or something?"

Keith paused for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, she didn't seem like herself in battle and was unable to form the shield too but more than that, she was hurt, in some sort of pain. Due to our combined connection as Voltron, I could feel it too." He peered at Hunk. "Do you know anything about that?"

"I didn't before," Hunk said thoughtfully. "But well, I was worried so I went to go talk to her. James was there and I know that's not that weird but I dunno, something's not right, Keith. He said she suffered a nasty fall and the pain was from that but Pidge isn't clumsy. Like if someone told me that about Lance, I'd believe it in a heartbeat cause he's always walking into walls, you know but Pidge? She's pretty careful about things and its not just that, when I talked about how I came because I wanted to talk to Pidge, thinking she was alone in her room, he sounded a bit possessive? Like telling me that he was her boyfriend and reminding me that she wasn't alone. I mean, I know that. They've been dating for one whole year, why wouldn't I know that? Something isn't right about him, Keith. I know I don't have any proof about it but I can feel it. Pidge is in some kind of bad situation but won't tell anyone and we can't help her until she tells us."

He had thought at first going to Lance but given how protective he could be over Pidge, his best friend would jump to conclusions and probably go and punch James. They did not need that right now – not without proof that James was the cause. He could see Keith listening deeply to his words as if he were thinking about it.

"You think James is…" Keith trailed off, expression darkening slightly and his fist clenched before he exhaled. "We need to know for sure somehow, Hunk. Do you have a way?"

Hunk sighed. "Not yet, but I'm not going to stop until I find out more information. Keith, I know the mission is important, but Pidge's safety is important to me. I need to find out more about this."

Keith nodded in agreement. "It's always affecting her abilities in Voltron so find out what you can ok? I'll see if I notice anything off as well. We're headed to an old Blade of Marmora base to see if we can get a hold of Krolia and some of the other members but in the meantime, try to see what's going on."

"Roger that," Hunk agreed right away as he nodded. "Just Keith? Don't mention this to Lance and the others yet. Even if I think my gut feelings are correct, Lance will probably not wait for proof before going to punch Griffin. I want to make sure he deserves it before letting Lance do that."

Keith chuckled a bit at that. "He probably would. Don't worry, I won't say anything."

Hunk nodded, becoming a little bit lost in his thoughts after that. He didn't know how to prove his theories about James which were just gut feelings at this stage but he would do whatever he could. He wouldn't leave Pidge alone in this. He couldn't leave her alone in this.

"Hunk?" Keith's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he looked to see his friend looking at him. "We're going to help Pidge, I promise."

"Yeah, I know," Hunk said softly. "I just hope we can help her before its too late."

Keith's expression firmed and he nodded at that. "We will. I know you'll be able to find out the truth, Hunk. You were able to about Rolo and Nyma."

"Not before Lance got hurt," Hunk countered frowning. "I know Lance was strong and Pidge is too, but he called us when he needed help. I don't get it, why isn't Pidge telling us anything? We're her friends, we can help."

"I don't know," Keith admitted honestly. "But maybe something is stopping her. We just need to find out what. If anyone can, it's you, Hunk."

Hunk watched Keith for a moment before nodding. "Okay. I hope so."


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay so here we are. Admittedly, this was the toughest chapter to write because of the stuff happening in it and Hunk gave me a bit of trouble in it as well and Pidge made me cry. So fun stuff going on here, that said I hope you enjoy it!  
_

* * *

**4\. Crash and Burn**

Keith had listened to Hunk's words with patience but once he had reassured his friend, he sat deep in thought. When they were Voltron, he felt a sharp, searing pain overwhelm him and he knew it had been coming from Pidge. She was his left hand after all but the thought of anyone raising their hand against her or hurting her in any way made him see red. He exhaled, counting to ten in his head, reminding himself that he didn't have any proof. _I hope Hunk is wrong. _He knew it wasn't likely that his friend was wrong because he had a good intuition about these things but it didn't necessarily mean he was wrong about Pidge being hurt, but about James being one to hurt her.

"Keith, are you ok?" Shiro's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he hadn't even realised when the other had entered his room. "What did Hunk want?"

Keith hesitated. He knew he could trust Shiro and also was certain he wouldn't mention it to Lance but he had also promised Hunk he wouldn't mention anything to the others until they had some solid proof.

"Hunk just wanted to discuss something," Keith said, which wasn't exactly a lie, it just wasn't the complete truth. "I'm sorry Shiro, I kind of promised him I wouldn't say anything until we had some solid proof about things."

Shiro smiled at him. "If you promised him, I won't make you tell me. I was just surprised because Hunk is careful not to interrupt unless it's really something that can't wait."

"It was important," Keith admitted softly. "I just hope we can get some answers soon so we can tell you." Of course, he also hoped James Griffin had nothing to do with Pidge's unusual behaviour or the fact that his friend was injured somehow because he didn't think he would be able to be patient if that happened. Not that Shiro would expect him to if he ever found out what Hunk's fears were in the first place. _Shiro considers Pidge to be like his daughter and if James had hurt her then…_

Shiro placed a hand on Keith's shoulder, squeezing it. "Don't worry, Keith. We'll work everything out together."

Keith nodded. Somehow, when Shiro put it like that, it made him feel like things would work out in the way that he hoped they would. He had no idea how yet but it would all be okay.

* * *

Even though she had taken a shower, Pidge still felt dirty as if she had taken a shower in swamp water, instead of clean, filtered water. If having sex was supposed to be romantic, then why did she feel as if she had drained all her energy? Maybe everything was hitting her at once. Sweat beaded down the side of her face and she didn't know why but her whole body began to tremble as if she hadn't slept for a whole year. Her lips felt dry and she licked them to try to get the dryness to go away even though she knew it wouldn't work. How long had it been since she had drunk a glass of water? She had to get it together. Maybe she could make herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because it was her favourite after all so it should give her some energy. _Come on Pidge, move! I can't let any of the others see me like this. _But as soon as she took one step out of bed, her legs gave way as she collapsed to the floor, hitting it with a hard thud causing her to wince as she pressed against a bruise on her back.

_What in the world is wrong with me? It wasn't like it was mine and James's first time for me to be so out of my element. _As she tried to lift herself off the ground, she heard a knock on the door.

"Pidge, are you okay?" Hunk's voice called out, causing her heart to race, which somehow made the trembling of her body even worse. She tried to call back that she was fine, but her voice caught in her throat and she was unable to say anything. She coughed weakly, trying to bring herself to talk but her throat felt too dry, stinging her throat every time she attempted to open her mouth. This was clearly not the response Hunk was looking for because she heard the door click open, entire body trembling even more and this time, she knew it wasn't just because of exhaustion but the thought of what would happen to her once James find out. _He'll kill me – he'll be so furious – oh god, no. I can't let Hunk find out. _

"Pidge!" Hunk knelt beside her in an instant, picking her up. "Oh my god, you're heating up. Hang on Pidge."

"Hunk, stop," Pidge managed to say, trying to push herself out of his grip. "I-I'm fine, just a little…" She would have said more but her voice was so weak and small, her vision beginning to blur. No, no, not now. She couldn't lose consciousness right now – she couldn't let Hunk take her to the Med-bay. Her breathing began to quicken. "Hunk please!" She had forced her voice to become louder even as she was slowly losing energy. "You can't take me to Med-bay! Please! Don't please…" That was all she could get out before everything faded to black and she knew no more.

* * *

Hunk paused for a moment at Pidge's desperation but pulled her closer into his chest, even as she fell unconscious. Her whole body was still trembling and it wasn't natural for someone to be this warm. He would normally listen to her wishes, but he couldn't when she was this bad off. She needed medical assistance, whether she wanted it or not. He sped up as he walked over to the Med-bay. "Help, someone help!" He made sure to be as loud as possible, which was a good thing because Pidge's father Sam Holt was also nearby as he came running as two workers came and put Pidge on a bed, wrapping a purple blanket around her smaller, frailer body.

"Hunk, what happened to her?" Sam asked, face growing pale as he saw the workers examine her.

"I guess we'll find out," Hunk said, eyes concentrating on his unconscious friend, wiping sweat off his forehead. _I was too late, I can't believe things got so far. I promised Keith and yet I…_ "I found her crashed on the ground when I went into her room." He knew he should probably tell the others but he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Still, his friends deserved to know. He exhaled, coming to a quick decision. "Commander Holt, I need you to stay at Pidge's side in case she wakes up. I'm going to bring the other Paladins here. Please, don't leave her side, no matter what. She shouldn't be left alone with the workers right now."

Sam nodded, face set in determination as he sat beside his unconscious daughter, taking her hand in his own.

Hunk didn't reply to his friend's father, instead hurrying towards the main room of the Atlas even though the only people there were Shiro, James, and Veronica. A scowl filled his face at the sight of James there, but he ignored him, focusing on Shiro since there was no time right now.

"Shiro, you need to find a way to contact Matt," Hunk said immediately. "Also, Pidge is in the Med-Bay. Can you send all the Paladins there? I need to talk to them right away."

"I'll come too," James said immediately. "She needs me more than she needs the other Paladins. I'm her boyfriend, after all."

"No," Hunk said so firmly that even Shiro looked taken aback. "She may be your girlfriend but she's our friend first." His expression was harsher than anyone had ever seen him but he had a feeling Pidge would be too scared to open up to any of them if James was there. He saw the MFE pilot about to protest when Shiro cut in.

"I'll get the other Paladins then find a way to contact Matt," Shiro said softly, face morphed over in concern. "Is Pidge alright?"

"She will be," Hunk said firmly, sending James a look. "It's better if you don't come there right now. I don't want her overwhelmed." He softened his voice as he said this since he knew losing his temper wouldn't be helpful.

"Keeping her from her boyfriend isn't overwhelming her," James said heatedly. "She's mine, I have the right to see her. I'm coming." He made to go anyway but Shiro grabbed hold of James, tightening his grip around his arm.

"As your Captain, I order you to stay here, James," Shiro said calmly. "Let the Paladins handle this."

"But Captain Shirogane, she needs me, not them," James said, eyes flashing as his fist clenched. "I'm her everything now."

"Let them handle it," Shiro said firmly. "Go on, Hunk. I'll send the Paladins to meet up with you in the Med-bay."

Hunk's shoulders slumped and he sent Shiro a thankful look. He was glad Shiro had managed to stop James even though the MFE pilot looked rather put-out by this but he headed back to the Med-bay to where the workers were, seeing the looks on their faces and seeing Sam sit on a chair, holding his unconscious daughter's hand, face pale and looking like he was about to collapse.

"Who did this? Who hurt her?" Sam was mumbling softly. Hunk frowned a bit at that, placing a hand on the Commander's shoulder.

"What happened?" Hunk asked, wondering if the workers had found anything which looked like it from the sounds of how Sam was sounding right now.

Sam looked up at him. "Don't you know? You brought her here."

Hunk shook his head. "As I said before, I just found her collapsed in her room, she was burning in fever and protesting not to bring her here. What happened? I don't know the details beyond what I saw."

Sam sighed. "It's a long story…"


	5. Chapter 5

_Another update for my lovely readers._

* * *

**5\. I Will Protect You**

Allura had been having an interesting conversation with the space mice when she felt a knock on her door. It was evening time so she was a little alarmed, but she opened the door. "Shiro? What's going on?"

"Allura, you need to head to the Med-bay," Shiro said to her, face calm but depicting that something was wrong.

Allura blinked. "Shiro, what's going on?" She knew she had already asked that but she wanted to know.

"It's Pidge," Shiro replied simply. "She's hurt."

Allura's expression hardened. She knew she had felt something from her fellow Paladin when they were Voltron but she hadn't known it was this serious. "What happened?" Pidge was like her little sister and she needed to know who had even dared to lay a hand on her. Somehow, she could feel it even back then when they were Voltron that something wasn't right. That her friend was hurting but she hadn't wanted to push but now she wished she had trusted her instincts.

"I don't know," Shiro said softly. "But Hunk found her collapsed in her room, bringing her to the Med-bay. He wants all the Paladins there before I contact Matt."

Allura clenched a fist, not liking the fact that she couldn't know more about what happened but maybe Hunk knew so she nodded to Shiro as well. "You should tell the others, Shiro." She waited for her friend's nod before hurrying towards the Med-bay. She should have been there for Pidge – she should have followed through and asked her what was wrong instead of just sitting around, hoping that her friend would come to her. Arriving in the Med-bay, she saw the expressions on Sam and Hunk's faces. Sam looked devastated and Hunk looked pale, his hands clenched into fists, which told her the situation was more than likely a lot more serious than she had initially thought.

"Hunk, Commander Holt, what's going on?" Allura asked immediately. "Did you find out what happened to Pidge? Who did this? Did someone hurt her?" She realised she was being a little bit impatient but she had felt that stabbing pain when they were Voltron, dismissing it back then at it just being from a fall – because anybody could have an accident but now that she thought closer about it, even then she had felt it was something different.

"It's better if the others get here," Hunk said and it was a sign of how upset he sounded which made Allura stop. Hunk rarely got this upset about anything – but his voice was downtrodden, looking incredibly tense about the whole situation and she had only seen this once before when his family had been captured. Normally, she would question more but if Hunk looked like this, eyes lightly moist**,** she would wait as tough as it was for her to do right now, especially as her eyes traveled to Pidge, lying so vulnerable, her heart clenching into itself. Bruises covered the side of her neck and her form looked even smaller than usual with her size. _Pidge, what happened to you? Who did this? _There were too many questions and not enough answers to them. How was she supposed to help or protect anyone when she didn't know what she was protecting against?

Hunk turned to her, reaching out and pulling Allura into a hug. "I'm sorry. I know you have questions, but I don't know all the details and I don't want to repeat them more than once. Pidge needs me…us to be strong right now after all." His voice cracked and Allura wrapped her arms around him, holding her friend close, her own eyes watering slightly.

"It's alright, Hunk," Allura said softly. "I promise whoever did this to Pidge, to our family will pay for it. I'll wait for the others to get here, I promise." She tightened her grip around Hunk, her focus becoming her family who needed her more than any questions being answered, not particularly surprised when she heard Lance's rather loud shout.

"What the hell happened, Hunk?!" Lance said, eyes wide as he stared at his injured friend as he came through, Keith closely behind him, his hands clenched into fists.

"Lance, calm down," Keith said quietly, eyes traveling from Hunk and Allura to Pidge lying there before he rested a hand on Lance's shoulder, trying to calm him down but Hunk knew that wouldn't be enough after he told them what he knew so he exhaled, pulling away from Allura, turning to his friends.

"I found Pidge collapsed in her room," Hunk explained. "I carried her to the Med-bay, she begged me not to bring her here but she was burning in fever, I couldn't bring her. It's a good thing I did because, after a medical examination, we found out that her injuries are at least six months old. She has really deep bruises and the doctors don't think those bruises are from Pidge being clumsy."

"What are you saying, Hunk?" Lance asked immediately. "Spit it out already."

Hunk didn't right away, instead, turning to Keith. "Did Shiro get a hold of Matt yet?"

"He said he was going to," Keith replied, watching him closely. "Hunk, tell me, were your suspicions correct?"

"Only Pidge can answer that," Hunk replied to his friend before his hands clenched into fists before he turned to the others. "I think James Griffin has been abusing Pidge. Not from now, but for a long time and she's been too scared to tell us. I don't know why, there are a lot of questions even I don't have to answer, but Pidge was determined to not come to the Med-bay and keep these injuries a secret. James's possessiveness over Pidge, her being distracted in the battle and you guys all felt that right? As if someone was pressing down on injuries as if something was piercing on a cutting wound but I haven't cut myself lately."

Lance was bristling the entire time that Hunk was speaking and spun around, making to storm out. "I'm gonna kill that bastard!"

"No!" Hunk grabbed a hold of Lance. "Do you know how much you're going to scare Pidge with that? Lance, for once think with your brain instead of your heart! Pidge is terrified right now, you didn't see her."

"The only way to remove that fear is to destroy the object of her fear," Allura said, eyes flashing as if she were seeing red and completely in agreement with Lance right now. She was about to move towards the doors of the Med-bay when something grabbed at her sleeve, causing her to stop, eyes widening as she saw Pidge had her eyes open, her hand trembling slightly.

"Please don't leave me," Pidge said, voice cracking and this made all the rage immediately vanish from Allura, her face softening as she turned towards the younger girl, everyone else turning as well.

"Pidge, are you ok? Why didn't you tell us?" Lance demanded to know causing the girl to begin to shake.

"Lance!" Allura scolded as Pidge didn't even seem to realise that Lance was the one who had spoken because she had sweat beading down the side of her face.

"Allura, I made James angry again," Pidge said, voice shaking with every word she spoke. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't mean for everyone to find out, I was really tired. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Please don't hit me. I'll behave. I promise I'll behave."

"Hey, Pidge, it's okay, it's just us," Hunk said softly, face falling when she flinched away from him, clinging to Allura slightly, her eyes sunken over and haunted.

Allura took Pidge's hands into her own, coming down to sit in her level of eyesight, sending the others a look to keep at a bit of a distance. "Pidge, look at me. I promise, no one will hurt you. I won't let them. I'm here with you. I won't let anyone touch you." Her voice radiated a gentle authority from her voice as she looked into the terrified girl's eyes. She didn't move until Pidge stopped trembling, peering at her to make sure she realised where she was as Commander Holt brought some ice chips and a glass of water in another hand, because the doctors had said that she may not be able to swallow water yet.

"Allura?" Pidge said quietly, her eyes returning to normal. "I'm sorry. I thought he was…"

Allura smiled softly, taking the bowl of ice chips from the tray and picking it up with a spoon, bringing it to Pidge's mouth. "You're safe now, think you can take a little bit of fluid?" Allura said gently. "Your dad is here, all of our friends, everyone is here."

"What about…James?" Pidge asked quietly. "He'll be upset, Allura." She had not taken the ice chip at all, staring down at her hands. "This was between me and him, now everyone knows. I was supposed to keep it a secret." She coughed weakly, her throat bruised.

"He isn't here," Keith said stepping forward slowly although stopped as he saw Pidge curl into Allura again, taking a step back. "It's just us. Shiro and Matt will be here soon."

"Pidge," Allura said softly. "James isn't here. We need to focus on you. I'm worried about you. We all are." She put the plate of ice chips down on the side when Pidge curled closer to her. The younger girl's body was still lightly trembling and she began coughing, causing Allura to begin rubbing her back, looking at Commander Holt and everyone else worriedly. "I don't think she can take any fluids like this. What do we do?"

"We'll have to attach a drip so she doesn't dehydrate," One of the workers said. "But all of you will have to step out for us to do that."

Pidge's breathing began to quicken causing her to cough more, grip tightening around Allura's hand. "Don't leave me, please. I…I don't want to be alone right now."

Allura looked at the workers. "I'll stay at a distance to allow you to work but I don't think she'll stay calm enough. She needs someone here with her right now. Is that alright?"

The workers exchanged a glance with each other before nodding.

Allen spoke up. "Alright, Katie, Allura can stay in the room with you but you must let us put a drip on your arm, so you can stay healthy ok?"

Pidge nodded, forcing herself to stop trembling and laying back down even as Allura pulled away slightly. Allura made sure that Pidge was calm before turning to the other Paladins.

"I'll update you guys, I promise," Allura said softly. "Try and make sure Matt gets here. She's okay around her Dad after all so I think she'll be alright with her brother."

"We'll be a call away if you need us," Keith said seriously, glancing at Pidge and Allura knew he was trying to communicate the same message to her but she looked away, not responding to that which caused their leader's expression to falter slightly but he didn't say anymore.

Allura nodded to Keith, seeing how silent the others had become too. Lance was clenching his fists and glaring at the ground, Hunk was staring at Pidge, expression downtrodden as if he wanted to just move forward and hug the girl who he considered as his little sister but even he knew that wouldn't be a good idea right now. She wished she could be everywhere at once, but being with Pidge was something that was a priority right now.

"Princess," Commander Holt said softly. "Please look after my little girl."

Allura nodded, not sure what to say to that for once as she watched her friend's father walk out with the other Paladins. A sigh escaped her lips as she moved a little bit closer to Pidge's bed so that the younger girl could see her in her line of vision. She had a feeling this was going to be a very long day.


End file.
